Nicholas Cage & His Interesting Hobby

Celebrities (or people in the public's eye) are constantly watched and sometimes criticized for what they do in their off-screen time. However, many times we get lost in the poor decisions of these "celebrities," and never learn much about what truly interests them.

Today in the paper, I learned actor Nicholas Cage is quite the avid comic book collector. While the hobby seems to be more prevalent today amongst adults, it was a typical hobby for young boys in the 50's, 60's and 70's. You know, one of those hobbies kids use to do before Ninetendo and computers consumed their lives. Cage evidently owns multiple comic books in his collection. Back in 2000, one of his rare and mint condition books was stolen from his West Los Angeles home. This particular book, Action Comics No. 1, was the debut of Superman -- big stuff! It was published in 1938 and just to give you a better idea as to why someone would want to steal a comic book -- a similar copy of Action Comics No. 1 was sold March 2010 for $1.5 million. You're probably asking yourself the same question I did -- why didn't grandpa collect comic books? Darn it!

Interestingly enough, what is believed to be Cage's stolen book, has resurfaced in the San Fernando Valley. An original Action Comics No. 1 was found in some sort of a storage locker, now eleven years later. Despite receiving a hefty insurance payout, Cage stated to the press that he would like the heirloom returned to his family.

In the 2000 theft, two other comic books were stolen from Cage's home and have yet to be found. Those books were the 1937 Detective Comics No. 1 and a 1939 Detective Comics No. 27 -- the first appearance of Batman. Here's the article with more information on the investigation. L.A. Times article

Do you own any comic books? Or did one of your relatives collect comic books back in the day?